NFC North Notes: Vikings, Teddy, Bears

There has been a lot of talk about whether Teddy Bridgwater will start for the Vikings upon his return, but GM Rick Speilman says the team is only focused on his health (link via Courtney Cronin of ESPN.com).

“All we’re concerned about is where he is this week,” Spielman said. “I know we’re evaluating him in practice every day. And then we’ll have to make a decision coming up next week — not if he’s going to start or not start, but if he’s going to come up to the 53. That’s the next step. And then, from there, the coaches will determine the rest of the way.”

The 6-2 Vikings have a Week 9 bye. After that, the team will assess where Bridgewater is in his recovery.

Here’s more from the NFC North:

• The Vikings didn’t make any moves at the trade deadline but GM Rick Spielman indicated that several teams reached out about some of the team’s younger players (Twitter link via Courtney Cronin of ESPN.com). Leading up to Halloween, Spielman said that the Vikings had some concerns about their depth at running back beyond Jerick McKinnon and Latavius Murray. However, they feel pretty set after claiming Mack Brown off of waivers from Washington.
• The Bears have not seriously discussed bringing wide receiver Kevin White back from injured reserve this season, coach John Fox told reporters (Twitter link via Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune). White, unfortunately, was never viewed as an IR-DTR candidate, so Fox’s announcement doesn’t come as a big surprise.
• The Packers‘ interest in Brian Hoyer was “cursory, at best,” according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (on Twitter). After Hoyer signed with the Pats, it was reported that Green Bay had interest in signing the QB. Either way, the Packers will forge ahead with Brett Hundley as their No. 1 quarterback while Aaron Rodgers nurses a broken collarbone.